Out of Mind, Out of Sight
by canthelpbutnotice
Summary: AU. Tristan's day is weirder than normal when he is suddenly invisible to everyone. What will he do with his new appreciation for being seen? Will be Trory just might take a while.
1. Chapter 1

He heard the sound of expensive crystal hitting the dining room wall and cringed in disgust. On his way out he had dismissed the maid and cook, telling them that they wouldn't want to see this. His mother had arrived for dinner, unexpected, once again, and in the midst of the divorce both sides had tried to use him as an excuse. For his father, an excuse not to pay child support and for his mother an excuse to get child support. He cringed once again as the front door slammed violently. Crawling under the covers he thought about when his life had become this messed up. He quickly fell asleep with one final thought: _I wish I was never born_.

  


Waking up a little groggily Tristan realized that his alarm clock had never rang and hurried into the shower. Remembering that today they were taking a trip to the Museum of Art he didn't bother with his uniform but grabbed the first set of clothes he could find. Walking through the halls Tristan for the first time noticed all the different pictures of his older brother, Michael. _Were those always there? Or am I just hallucinating?_ Since he had taken a minute too long starring at the pictures there was no time for breakfast. He reached for the first keys on the hook and was quickly on his way to school.

  


The maid wandered into Michael DuGrey's room seeing as the door was open and she had always kept it closed since he left last year for college. She noticed that the shower had been recently used and one of the towels was carelessly left on the floor. The bed was rumpled as if someone had been tossing and turning in it all night and a set of pajamas was thrown onto the bed. Figuring that Mr. DuGrey had been arguing with Mrs. DuGrey and had chosen to stay in Michael's room for the night, she quickly tidied everything up and left the room. On her way by the garage she noticed a set of keys missing and remembered that Michael had done something to a car not too long ago and it was probably in the shop.

  


Tristan peeled into the large parking lot and drove quickly to his normal spot but finding it filled had to make a few quick circles around the lot before he found an empty space. _Whoever took my spot is going to have to pay later._ He briskly walked across to the large building and entered heading for his first class. A smile found its way onto his face at the thought of once again seeing Rory after a long and disturbing weekend. Tristan walked by three administrators who didn't even acknowledge his presence but he was late enough to worry about that. He slipped into the class a few seconds after the bell rang and was surprised that the teacher didn't yell at him for it. Seeing that once again his normal routine had been interrupted he was forced to sit in the far bak corner instead of right behind Rory since that was where Brett, the star quarterback had suddenly decided to sit.

  


He was even more surprised when Paris leaned over and whispered something to Rory leading to a short fit of giggles that was quickly suppressed when the teacher, Mr. Hall, turned to look at them. _Last time I checked those two didn't get along. And Brett also wouldn't risk his life to talk to Rory, especially not if I was around._ The teacher took roll by the seating chart and Tristan was forced to bear through his one class of the day before heading to the museum.

  


Each student was allowed to drive themselves to the museum and Tristan was once again overwhelmed as Rory, Paris, Madeline, Louise, and Brett all piled into a BMW. He climbed into his car and was intent on following them but got left behind at a red light. Tristan arrived a little later than the rest of his class and silently stood in the back as the teacher explained about their two page report on one piece of artwork to get credit for the trip. To prove that they hadn't just printed off the Internet, they were to copy down exactly the inscription of the plaques next to the piece of work.

  


Tristan tried to follow Rory and her new crowd but quickly lost them as the entire class made one large scramble to get away from their teacher. Figuring that he couldn't find them in so large a place he grabbed a piece of paper and decided to copy down the first artwork he saw. With that done he sat in the gardens for a while and drew the scene before him and soon enough it was time to meet with the teacher. He excused everyone for lunch and said that they needn't stay any longer than this if they didn't want to. 

  


Not in the mood to eat Tristan promptly exited the large building and mindlessly drove around. He ended up another town maybe an hour from Hartford and wandered the streets until it got dark. Realizing that no one had ever acknowledged him the entire day Tristan became fed up with the actualizationand decided to test his theory on the way home. He stopped in a small town with some cheesy name and walked into the firs store he saw without even checking the name. Of course he had to follow someone into the store and the little bell on the door jingled as they passed through.

  


Tristan sat down on a stool and waited for someone to acknowledge and him and almost jumped for joy when a guy in flannel leaned on the counter in front of him and asked, "What can I get you, kid?" He started to answer the man when he noticed that someone behind him started speaking. Tristan walked out of the door defeated at the same time that a bouncy woman entered.

  


Reaching home, he went directly to his room and fell into his bed, hoping that the weird turn of events would stop by tomorrow. If he had not stumbled in during the dark of the night or woken up too late to notice he might have seen that the room was painted a light green instead of his preferred shade of dark blue. He might have also noticed that the pictures on the wall weren't the same and that even here his brother's image was everywhere. 


	2. Chapter 2

A/N - This story makes no sense whatsoever for me but for some reason I can't really stop writing it. Any reviews would be appreciated, especially for this work of madness. And just for any one who cares (which are probably none) I'm taking down most of my other stories to revise if I ever get the time, just cause they basically suck.

  


Tristan woke up this time with a clearer sense of logic than the previous morning. He looked around him and observed the different changes in the room. It was decorated exactly how Michael's was before he left, except for all of the pictures that they had taken together. Tristan remembered taking some for his own room after Michael left but why were they all gone? And more importantly what was he doing in Mike's room? Maybe he had been so off-balance yesterday that he actually went into the wrong room and fell asleep. 

  


Quickly he got up and headed for his own room but after stepping out and finding that he was in fact in the last room on the right, he finally noticed that something had been desperately wrong yesterday. In order to test his speculation he went downstairs and into his father's study where he was for sure reading the newspaper.

  


Nathan DuGrey didn't even glance up or notice the fact that someone had entered the room. To be absolutely positive Tristan went around the desk and took a look at the large amount of pictures in elegant frames covering the desk. There were the obligatory family portraits, none of which included Tristan, and even some more snapshots of various family members. In any of the pictures Tristan couldn't find his mirror image or even a younger version of himself. 

  


At the call of his mother Nathan left the room and Tristan took the opportunity to view the ever-growing family tree that his father tediously updated. Finding the right section for his part of the family and the generation Tristan found the names of his brother, then his cousins and even second or third cousins but no where on the page was his own name.

  


Following his father's footsteps into the formal dining room he could hear the sound of laughter coming from that general direction. Seeing as he couldn't remember the last time he heard someone laughing in his home Tristan rushed into the room. He found his mother laughingly with abandon at something his father said which he could tell from the little grin lighting up his father's face. _And of course in this world even my parents get along better without me._

  


Becoming suddenly sick of his usually hostile home Tristan left for Chilton but not before changing his clothes and then realizing that he couldn't take a car or someone would notice it missing. He walked slowly to the school, collecting his thoughts as he went, and when he did arrive was able to walk the halls with no one noticing. Arriving at his usual home room Tristan observed through the little window in the door until someone had to leave for the bathroom and he was able to sneak in. 

  


Tristan spent the rest of the class watching Rory and hearing the class groan about a pop quiz. Stealing a piece of paper from the back table he began a sketch of Rory and was suddenly grateful for the quiz because if not for everyone's concentration they might have noticed a floating pencil. Tristan was able to leave as everyone else did but beat Rory to her locker since she now had social obligations. He watched her from across the hall as she opened the locker and the drawing fell out. She glanced around questioningly and opened the folded paper apprehensively. 

  


Rory looked up from the paper and obviously searched for the artist. He remembered signing the paper with his initials but it didn't matter any ways since he apparently didn't exist. Rory suddenly did a double take then sprinted to a person at the far end of the corner. Tristan remembered his name as Trey, a shy sophomore who was really good at basketball. From a distance Tristan realized that Trey looked a lot like him especially since he had dyed his hair almost the exact same color as Tristan's. Trey was obviously bewildered and Rory turned away crestfallen. She carefully tucked the paper into her binder then went to her next class.

  


Tristan left the school after that and spent the rest of his, seemingly worthless, day skipping pebbles on the lake in the park. Returning once again to his home he thought about sending an email to his father, claiming to need a bigger car, and then sign it as Michael. Tristan would take it tomorrow when no one was home and park it down the street for when he needed it. He fell asleep concocting plans of his invisible life and slept a dreamless sleep.

  


The next morning he knew something was different as he woke up in his own room with his father screaming at him that he was going to be late for school. 


	3. Chapter 3

Tristan awoke again groggily but this time recognizing the familiar dark hue of his blue walls. Soon enough his father had entered the room and had started berating him for his laziness and usual tardiness. Once his father had left Tristan jumped up and began preparing himself for school. On the way past his father's study he yelled a quick goodbye then hopped into the nearest car that wasn't his father's.

  


Arriving at Chilton five minutes after the late bell rang Tristan was awarded with two detention slips and he practically jumped for joy. He took his normal seat behind Rory and smirked happily when Paris turned to give Rory a cold glare for knowing the correct answer. The teacher demanded their assignment from the museum and Tristan none too happily remembered that he hadn't done it. 

  


When Rory was forced to open her binder to grab the report a stray folded paper fell out and gently landed on the floor. He reached out to grab it but Rory beat him to it and gave him a glare for his efforts. _The world is at peace again._

  


When the bell rang Tristan slowly stood up and languidly stretched as he waited for Rory to finish packing up. She disregarded him with her usual coolness and calmly walked off to her locker as two of his acquaintances dragged him off in the general direction of a group of girls. He watched her out of the corner of his eye and was disappointed when he was forced to leave for his next class. He spent the next few periods day wondering what had happened to him since he had evidently missed the last two days of school.

  


At lunch he saw Rory sitting at her usual table, book in hand and headphones in place. He had thought about confronting her about his disappearance and asking her if she had missed him. It was obvious not from his memories where everyone led a happier life without him around. Tristan sat there reflecting until Brett, the very same Brett who was all over Rory in his memories asked him how he skipped school earlier. When Tristan didn't answer him Brett followed his gaze and shortly after made some crude comment about her "supposed" innocence.

  


Tristan merely stood, flipped Brett's tray onto him, and left the cafeteria all eyes on him. He reacted to none of the obscenities that Brett yelled in his direction at the feeling of being covered in pizza, applesauce, and chocolate milk. Tristan knew that Rory was regarding him with some strangeness as to his motivation to suddenly cover one of his friends in his own lunch. But she said nothing when compelled to walk past him on her way to the next period. Tristan felt none of the shame that one would normally feel after dropping a lunch on someone's lap.

  


He entered the class seconds before the bell rang and was forced to endure the entire period from a seat in the front corner. Tristan took notes scarcely and once succumbed to the temptation of just staring out the window as in many of his other periods earlier that the day. He evaluated the events of the day before his "disappearances" and came up with nothing new. _Got up, went to school, annoyed Rory, went home, did homework, listened to father and mother arguing, fell asleep. Where in between those normal activities would I have time to disappear into nothingness?_

  


Tristan quickly copied down the assignment on the board then was forced to stay behind and receive the homework he had missed during his absence. After that he went around to his other classes and collected his make up work. On the way out to his car he stopped in the hall where Rory's locker was located. 

  


He watched her struggle with her locker once again and chuckled quietly to himself when it opened with surprising force and books and papers alike flew out. Tristan silently knelt next to her and began to pick up whatever was in his reach. He picked up a paper that he recognized and carefully unfolded it quickly so that Rory would not notice. But she did and he was caught in the act as she snatched the paper from him and glowered. 

  


In her hands lay the opened drawing of her from the day before, the one that she had mistaken the artist. After her odd perception of his nervous demeanor she followed his gaze to the drawing in her hands. She stood slowly and at the same time carefully looked over the paper as if trying to find what he found to be so interesting. Her eyes wandered to the bottom of the drawing and to the large initials that signified the artist. 

  


Rory let out a small gasp when recognition dawned on her. Her eyes were immediately drawn to his which were slightly downcast as if in embarrassment. A hastily scrawled _TD. _She didn't know why she couldn't see after first getting the drawing . Tristan DuGrey. 

  



End file.
